Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur announced that the ministry has granted Rs 363 crore for the world’s largest film restoration project under the National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM). The restoration project is set to come up at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in Pune. The NFHM, in addition to restoration, would also involve assessment and preservation processes of film’s condition, preventive conservation, and digitisation with a total allocated budget of Rs. 597 crore.
As part of NFHM, approximately 2,200 films will undergo restoration. The titles have been shortlisted by forming language-wise committees consisting of filmmakers, documentary filmmakers, film historians, producers, etc. Eminent film personalities such as Aparna Sen, Shriram Raghavan, Anjali Menon, and Vetrimaaran were part of the committees.
The restoration project will involve digital and semi-automated manual picture and sound restoration from the best surviving source material. The source negative/print will be scanned at 4K to .dpx files, which will be then digitally restored. The damages, including scratches, dirt, and abrasions, will be cleaned during the restoration process. The sound will be restored during the process. After restoration, the digital picture files will be colour graded (DI process) and balanced to achieve the look of the film at the time of the original release.
In the interim, NFAI has undertaken the restoration of 10 Satyajit Ray classics which will be subsequently showcased at various International Film Festivals. Of which, Pratidwandi has been selected by Cannes to premiere in the Cannes Classics section of the 2022 edition. A restored version of G Aravindan’s 1978 Malayama film Thamp will be showcased at Restoration World Premieres in Cannes by the Film Heritage Foundation.
Besides Satyajit Ray films, Neelakuyil (Malayalam) and Do Aakhein Barah Haath (Hindi) will also be part of the restoration. Short films and documentaries from the collection of NFAI, Films Division and other rare materials, including pre-independence, will also be restored.
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